Last time on Unlikely Love…
"As for her cover?" Hiruzen questioned as he puffed away on his pipe.
"Nara Shikaku. You know how brilliant he is with coming up with plans and creating tactics. I suspect that you where thinking about calling him into this situation for advice long before I even began the mind walk, if she proved useful, isn't that true, Sir?" said the blonde with a sly grin as the older man huffed in annoyance before starting to puff on his pipe irritably. Inoichi's chuckle filled the apartment as the Hokage shot him an irritated look.
"Hmph! Very well then. We'll be pulling Shikaku into the loop." Said the older man as Inoichi sent him an apologetic grin to which the Hokage merely shook his head at irritably. His jonin could be so annoying sometimes.
Ch. 5 Enter, the Shadows
Haruki sighed in annoyance as he pulled out the container of blood vials towards him. Why did Hokage-sama have to call me in right then? Couldn't the blood testing have waited till later? He thought to his self irritably as he began to think forlornly of his annoyed girlfriend that he had had to leave behind right when things were about to get interesting between them. Of all the times, he thought with a huff before getting to work on the samples, his practiced movements swift as he began mixing chemicals with the blood vials, putting some in readers so the machine could give him information on its contents as he poured an original vial of blood on a series of medical seals. But then again, he was the best at what he did and getting this done would be a snap for him. He was used to getting classified blood typing from the Hokage, so he supposed he shouldn't have been so surprised.
Haruki paused to frown at the vial of blood that he had put the cell decay accelerant in. It hadn't even changed colors and it had already been ten minutes. How odd. He took another look at the readings for that vial before frowning again. Definitely odd, the blood was showing minimal signs of decay… huh. Must be blood from a baby or something. An adult's blood would have at least shown signs of cells breakdown by now. Haruki continued working on the vials, frowning more and more as the reading for some of them started coming back. This was decidedly odd. O type blood, high regenerative properties to the cells, high resilience to toxins, regular chemical levels, and extremely high chakra saturation levels… this couldn't be a child's blood. It was looking more and more to be a ninja's blood, especially because of the chakra saturation and toxicity resilience.
Hmm, I'll test the nature type of the chakra in the blood. That should give me some clues about this person, Haruki thought as he moved to a storage closet before rooting through it for what he was looking for. Giving a satisfied grunt, he hefted a medium sized scroll out of the back before making his way to the table, rolling it out flat and then grabbing a vial of untainted blood. Applying chakra to the seal he then poured the blood on the center of the seal. The character for the different elements began to slowly glow, as Haruki's eyes began to widen in surprise. First was wind, then fire, then lightning, water and finally earth, as the light coming from the seal slowly began to grow until it was blinding. Hissing Haruki tried to cut off the seal by releasing his chakra, but to his surprise the seal remained aglow, though the wind chakra character was now the brightest, fire and lightning the second brightest as the researcher stared at the scroll dumbfounded. The seal is running off the chakra in the blood, he realized with a slightly awed expression. He looked back at the table with the vials, this time with new interest. Maybe there was more to this blood than what he had originally suspected. He was going to run a few extra tests on it for the Hokage, just to be sure.
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Shikaku Nara yawned as he slowly made his way through the village hidden in the leaves, heading towards the apartment district, where the Hokage had summoned him. Ninja and civilians passed the slim build of a man that was Nara Shikaku, with his dark hair pulled back into a spiky pony tail that made him resemble a pineapple. Shikaku was currently dressed in the dark blue top and pants that made up the jonin uniform, his murky green flak jacket hanging over it, the edges a bit ragged. As they bustled about, the slouching man shot them a distasteful look before yawning again. Busy bodies, Shikaku thought to himself with an annoyed eye roll as he continued his easy stroll. If the Hokage hadn't said that this was a top secret assignment and was very important to the village as well as involving the village's tailed beast container, the lazy pineapple haired man might not have forced himself to work on his day off, but as it was, he was currently on his way. Shikaku paused in front of the run down apartments before him, before his gaze landed on the apartment number he was searching for. With that, in an almost lazily graceful way, the man leaped the three story distance, and landed on the railing before hopping down and knocking on the door with another yawn. To think that the Anbu had actually interrupted me while I was napping, he thought irritably. Whatever it was, it had better be good. The door opened to reveal teal eyes, set in an angular face framed by long sandy blonde hair and rough bangs.
"Inoichi?" asked the Jonin Commander, his expression slightly perplexed as his long time team mate, friend, and fellow clan head, moved aside to usher him in the dim rundown apartment, shutting the door behind them . A slender eyebrow rose on Shikaku's scarred face as he took in the scene.
The biju (tailed beast) container, Naruto Uzumaki, was sitting beside the couch in a rundown chair. There where Anbu stationed secretly all over the room, all of which Shikaku knew where only the Hokage's personal guard, his best and most trusted. Then there was the Hokage himself who was currently talking to the boy, Naruto. Naruto was looking at the older man with worried eyes and his hands tightened their grip on something. That was when Shikaku realized that there was someone on the couch under a mass of blankets, and that he couldn't hear what was being said between the two of them despite the fact that he was well within hearing range, since the boy's apartment was pretty small. A silencing seal to keep their talk private, Shikaku realized as he straightened slightly from his slouch, eyes sharpening to take in the other subtle things that marked the severity of the situation.
Finally the Clan Head's sharp gaze landed on the figure that was on the couch and he found himself moving forward to see the obscured form that was hidden under blankets and the other two people's presence. As Shikaku came to stand closer he paused, a perplexed frown marring his scarred face at the shock of familiar red hair and pale skin. Where had he seen coloring like that before? He knew he had seen it in Konoha, many years ago, but he couldn't put his finger on what made this person's coloring seem so familiar. He had the feeling that this woman, for it was a woman, should have a bad temper… It wasn't until the boy leaned back a bit that Shikaku eyes widened in realization. When the boy leaned back, the angle made their hair colors overlap as the boy continued to talk to the old Hokage, the young woman still asleep on the couch. Red and shocking yellow contrasted sharply.
Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, Shikaku couldn't help but think. Minato, who was the legendary fourth Hokage who had sacrificed himself for the village and Kushina, the last container for the nine tailed fox. The two of them where usually together before their deaths that fateful night, and it was often one would see their heads leaned together as they talked quietly over seals before Kushina would burst into her usual enthusiastic self. (Which usually involved punching someone or losing her temper. Shikaku shivered involuntarily at the old memories.)
The overlapping burgundy red and shocking yellow couldn't help but remind him of the two of them, and the man found his eyes widening as understanding went through him like a shock. He had always suspected that Minato was the boy's father because of his unique coloration, but didn't know what to think regarding the boy's mother. Was it possible that Kushina had been his mother? That might have explained how the ninetails had gotten loose before, since pregnancy would have weakened the seal holding back the tailed beast. Yes, the boy had always carried Kushina's name but the third Hokage had just told those that had asked, that it was in honor of the last Uzumaki that had died defending the village on the night of the attack.
Now however, there was this woman who had just appeared from nowhere, who looked like Kushina's long lost relative in the boy's apartment. Out of all places, she was here. It was suspicious to say the least. Shikaku found his brow furrowing in confusion as he glanced about the apartment to see if he could find anymore clues. Just what's going on here? Who's this mysterious woman who looked like death warmed over? He wondered. If it wasn't for the tiny rise and fall of the blankets as she slept, he would have thought she was dead and that the Hokage had called him to make a solid alibi for the kid, so the council wouldn't be screaming for his bright blonde head, (at least anymore than usual.) he paused as an observation caught his attention.
Short hair, Shikaku noticed with a frown as he took in unconscious woman's two inch long red locks. Very short, he realized with a frown as his gaze sharpened on it. In fact, it was all even, as if it had been all cut the same length. His brow furrowed as he took in a few short dark hairs that lay on her pale cheek. Those look like eyelashes, he thought as he took in the woman's dark red lashes. But her lashes are red, not black… so why are there balck lashes on her cheeks, like she had shed them?
"Can you guess why you're here, Shikaku?" asked Inoichi quietly by his elbow making the man blink and look at him as he was drawn away from his observations. Shikaku frowned as he looked at his long time friend and team mate long hard, amusement shining from Inoichi's eyes. Inoichi always did enjoy giving his reasoning skills and genius a run for their money. Inoichi is here, Shikaku noted. That means that it was more likely than not that the Hokage had had him here to read someone's mind. It probably wasn't the boy's mind, but the woman's since she seemed foreign despite the fact that she reminds me of Kushina. Then there was the high level of security and the fact that only the Hokage's most trusted where here. Shikaku knew of how protective the older man was of Naruto, so he knew that whatever was going on with this woman, the boy was involved with and it was more likely than not that she was a relative of the Uzumaki clan. There was something off about the situation though… something he was missing…
"How troublesome," Shikaku grumbled as Inoichi gave a snort of amusement before gesturing for him to follow him to the kitchen.
"I'll give you a huge hint, since it's so troublesome," teased the Yamanaka clan head as he gestured to the kitchen floor. Shikaku's eyes widened in surprised and he knelt to inspect it closer.
"Chakra burns," he murmured as he gently traced a finger over one of the wide long burns that marred the floor, almost creating a spiral pattern. He could even feel the lingering chakra in the wood, thrumming with energy. Charka burns where created when there was such a high level of chakra traveling through something that the object couldn't handle the flow of energy anymore and it caused a burn like reaction to occur. There was long dark brown hair scattered across the floor. How odd, the man thought with a frown as he picked up a strand, frowning at the unusual texture and the fact that it seemed curly. Inoichi watched him think in clear amusement as Shikaku moved slightly to get a better look at some of the blood that was on the floor. After a moment the dark haired man stood slowly, his scarred face thoughtful before a series of emotions flew across his face, and a slow grin began to curve his lips and Inoichi groaned. Aw man, has he already gotten it? I knew I shouldn't have given him that last clue, Inoichi thought in exasperation.
"The Hokage wants me here to make a cover for the woman, is that correct?" Inoichi made a face and nodded, annoyed. "But she's foreign, very very foreign if I'm not mistaken, so foreign to this land that her true identity could probably be considered an SS class secret, yes?" he asked as Inoichi huffed, shooting him an annoyed look.
"Stop beating around the bush and smearing it in, Shikaku. You figured it out already, ok?" grumbled the taller blonde as Shikaku gave a laugh.
"So she's the one that went missing from the hospital, huh?" asked Shikaku as Inoichi huffed.
"Yeah. How did you figure it out?" Asked the blonde as the two of them began to head into the living room.
"You know that Hokage asked me to review her file recently right?" Shikaku asked his friend, making the blond man sulk, before Shikaku friend elbowed Inoichi good naturedly. "Well, it's one of the few things that made the most sense. The missing woman was around her age, and height, and those chakra burns on the floor suggested that there was a huge influx of chakra passing over the surface of the floor. The fact that her hair fell out and she's now gaunt and sickly only pointed towards there being a metamorphosis, and it's like the hair of the woman in the picture. If you hadn't shown me that last clue I wouldn't have gotten it, though." Inoichi merely shook his head as a fond smile began to grace his lips.
So, Naruto really is Kushina's kid, thought Shikaku with a slight frown. It was a startling discovery, even more startling since the proof that Naruto was Kushina's child was currently asleep on the couch.
How was she proof? It was simple. The foreigners from the forbidden lake, when given blood from a host, took on dominate genes from the original person's DNA, and it was clear that there was some strong Uzumaki blood running through the boy's veins if the woman's appearance was any indication. They stopped just outside of the sound barrier to watch the Hokage and the boy. It was clear that they were done talking and now the boy was quietly observing the young woman with somber eyes, her hand subtly tucked into his where it poked out of the blanket. The Hokage looked in their direction, to acknowledge them and they took it as their Q to enter into the sound barrier. The blonde haired boy looked up at them, his face slightly wary as his hand tightened on hers.
Protective, both Shikaku and Inoichi noted as the Hokage decided to speak up.
"This is Nara Shikaku, and Yamanaka Inoichi, Naruto-kun. They are the ones that will be helping Samira-chan create a cover that will hide her from any and all bad ninjas," said the older man as the boy shot the two men a glare.
"A cover is a background story, right?" asked the boy as the older man nodded.
"I don't see why she will have to go away," growled the boy as Inoichi's eyebrows rose and Shikaku frowned.
"I never said that she had to leave Naruto-kun, just that it's very likely that she will have to. Besides, it wouldn't be permanent. It would only be until her cover was firmly in place before she was able to come back. We don't want anyone tying her to her real identity."
"But I don't want her to leave Jiji! What if she never comes back?! What if something else happens to her Jiji?!" The boy cried ardently in a way that reminded Shikaku of Kushina. Admittedly the boy had a point though. What if she only had a limited amount of time to live and they never saw each other again? Sadly, part of their creation for a cover would have to wait on the test results from the lab. Then they would know how long she should have to live.
"We'll make sure that she's ok before we create a deep cover kid, you've got my word," said Shikaku as the boy's piercing blue eyes landed on him, eyes that where so much like Minato's. A flash of surprise and fear blazed through them, and Shikaku realized that he had let it slip that she might not be alright just yet. He had heard talk that the boy was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but despite this talk of the boy being stupid, he could tell that the boy had immediately caught onto his slip of the tongue.
"And if she's not ok?" Naruto demanded.
"Then I'll come up with something that will make sure you two are able to have plenty of time together before any illness catches up with her," said the man firmly before the Hokage could interject, his dark intelligent eyes boring back into the blonde's. The boy swallowed thickly as his fears filled his eyes but he nodded, his grip on her small hand tightening slightly. Brave boy. Shikaku sighed as the Hokage shot him an aggravated look before the group went back to watching the boy watch the sleeping woman. This was the least that Shikaku could do for the son of Minato, and Kushina, and he would damn well make sure to do his best.
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A cover for her… Shikaku mused as he lounged in one of the boy's sitting chairs in the living room. He shifted as he tried to get comfortable in the lumpy thing before giving up with a sigh. How troublesome. He would have to have a chair sent over to the boy if he was going to be spending half the amount of time he suspected he might at the boy's apartment. Then again he would probably send one over anyways.
It was clear from the boy's attachment that they would have to justify her presence around the boy, and make the justification something that the council of elders and civilian council could not object to. It would be difficult since she was obviously an outsider, but he was sure he could come up with something. Distant family… that might work, or at least provide a stepping stone, the man thought to himself as he looked at the dozing form of the boy who was still besides the young woman, her red hair peeking out from under the pile of blankets the boy had covered her with. The boy had nodded off a few minutes ago, from stress and chakra exhaustion Shikaku suspected. It took a huge amount to fuel the metamorphosis process, which Naruto had managed to supply all on his own, unknowingly. The amount had Shikaku cringing when he thought of how bad the boy's chakra control must be before sighing and examining the deeply asleep boy. Naruto would probably wake up soon anyways. The power of his biju would make sure he always had energy to spare and he would recover soon.
Well, she could definitely claim the Uzumaki heritage with that red hair of hers… if only she had the Uzumaki Vitality… thought the genius as he frowned pondering the woman's situation. Perhaps she did get the Uzumaki vitality? If she did, she might live a few years more than what we had originally projected. Maybe even ten years at best. Shaking his head with a sign, the man returned to his original musings.
The elders on the council and the civilians will definitely try to get her out of the village, at the first chance, so we cannot claim that she is just passing through and came across her relative. There would never be enough of a backing of power in the council for her to have any form of support, at least the smallest amount needed to keep her from immediately getting thrown out of Konoha, Uzumaki Clan mate or not. She would have me, Inoichi and Chouza backing her but it would not be the majority needed to keep her in the village, if the elders decided to have their way. If the council tried to get nasty she could threaten to take the boy from the village because of how poorly he has been treated over the years and since she is one of the boy's only living relatives, she would have the rights to a lost clan mate if said clan mate was willing to leave of their own violation. But even then that is a risky card to play, since it is more likely than not that the elders might attempt to resort to something drastic to get rid of her instead of just letting her stay in the village like she wants. They would fear her influence on the boy.
He sighed, annoyed. They, (the Hokage and everyone else involved,) would have to have a good argument to present the council when they demanded why she would be allowed around the boy. Not that they could be too forwards about the issue. It would only create suspicion if he and the others appeared so certain so soon over an issue that had just been brought to the attention of the council. It would be obvious who was involved and it wouldn't take much to figure out what was going on. No, Inoichi, his self and the Hokage would have to back her in a far more subtle way if they really wanted to keep whatever cover that was established for her, in place. After all, the members on the council wouldn't want a foreigner influencing the jailer of the Kyubi, even though the boy is treated like crap by the village. 'All the more reason to be wary,' the elders would probably argue. It would be so much easier for her to get inside his head, considering how much he would value the smallest bit of kind attention. But Shikaku trusted Inoichi's mind jutsus, and he suppose he could argue that Inoichi had gone through her head for information. It would definitely add credibility to their story, as long as they made up a cover for her that she would be able to keep up.
For that Shikaku was going to have to work with Inoichi and the woman to make a story for her. The best and easiest way to make her a deep cover background cover that she wouldn't slip up on would be to use her own past as a basis, which is where Inoichi and the woman would come in. Shikaku would ask for her story on certain things like family, past, places she had lived before, etc, and then confer with Inoichi in private later so Inoichi could validate or explain some things to him for the cover's creation. It seemed that for some reason, Inoichi did not want Samira finding out about his mind walking jutsus right away. Something about not wanting to be castrated or what not. Shikaku shook his head as he started thinking once more on the situation.
No, she definitely has to come into the village already bearing backing and favor of someone in power, and we cannot claim it is the Hokage for it would appear too suspicions and far too convenient. Danzo keeps a sharp eye on Hiruzen as it is and would suspect something was up and might find more than what we were expecting, with his little shadows hiding in the dirt… he mused thinking about a few of Danzo's secret operatives.
Then there was the problem of her credibility as an Uzumaki clan member. She would have to know a good few Uzumaki Seals, Shikaku deliberation with a frown, for her to seem believable, and that would take time and lots of practice. He sighed deeply as he messaged his temples. It looked like she was going to have to leave the village and return after she had mastered a few decent skills in the art of sealing. Sure they could pick a different cover for her, but in the long run, it made more sense to claim that she was an Uzumaki. She had the hair of one, she would need the political support that came from being part of the Uzumaki clan, and it was possible that she would end up having the special life force and chakra of one. If they did not immediately claim that she was an Uzumaki clan member from the start then the council elders would be suspicions that she never shared her heritage and got close to one of her relatives in the village under the guise of another last name.
In fact with the way things were looking, the Hokage had been right in telling Naruto that she was going to have to leave for a time before returning. If Inoichi had his way, (which he usually did,) then the woman would probably become a ninja and for that she was going to need some basic training, enough to pull off the rank of high genin low chunin to be accepted into the ninja ranks the easiest. She would of course be given the rank of genin even if she was higher, but without the experience needed for missions she would automatically be placed a genin. She already knew taijutsu pretty well, he had been told and apparently she knew a few basics on weapon handling, but not enough to properly throw or utilize kunai or shuriken. She would need to train with those, as well as some basic kenjutsu in the Uzumaki style. The more and more he thought about it, the more it looked like she was going to need some form of guardian or teacher for this plan of his to work, someone outside the village that could be trusted enough with the task. After all, if she was a foreigner, she would obviously be from outside the village. To receive the support she needed to stay in the village itself, she would need the support of someone who wasn't in the village a lot of the time, but still a well trusted shinobi of the leaf. Then who could dispute how long she had known this Konoha ninja, or her skills, or why he supported her? No Konoha ninja could. No civilian could, and certainly no council member.
So… she would need someone with enough political sway to keep her in the village long enough so she could prove herself loyal and worthy of staying, an explanation for why she is allowed around Naruto, a claim to the Uzumaki Clan's legacy, and a teacher, someone that they could trust implicitly with the actual truth regarding the woman's background, who was outside the village most of the time, who would be willing to help... Shikaku frowned as he thought it over. Seals… a teacher… political power… and motive to help Minato's kid… a sly grin curved Shikaku's mouth as he began to chuckle.
It looked like the Hokage was going to have to call Jiraiya, toad sage of the legendary Sannin into the village on a favor. The white haired man would fit the bill perfectly in Shikaku's opinion. Now the only thing left to do was convince the man to take the woman with him and train her. Jiraiya was a picky teacher at best, so they would have to probably use the blonde kid's attachment to get her into Jiraiya's care, as well as a good deal of guilt tripping along with the Hokage ordering Jiraiya to take her. Even then, the Nara Clan head had a feeling that Jiraiya would still try to refuse, and he was already trying to think up a good way to get the man to take her.
5 minutes later…
…Oh I give up, Shikaku thought with a groan and a face palm. The only scenarios that he could think up in which Jiraiya would accept her as his charge all ended up involving perverted means. He decided to turn his thoughts to what she would stand to gain if Jiraiya managed to accept her, which Shikaku was certain would happen, even if he wasn't so sure how just yet.
If she went with Jiraiya, the Sannin could claim that he had found her in his travels and decided to train her to become a Konoha shinobi if she chose the shinobi path. Knowing the Sannin, the woman and Jiraiya could claim that the man had found himself indebted to a small Uzumaki family and the young woman had been left to his care or something along those lines. Perhaps a spy mission gone wrong for the family after passing Jiraiya information, with her being the only survivor? Hmm. It would certainly indebt Jiraiya to her forever and explain why her family is dead. He mused before sighing. There where so many elements to this cover it was making his head hurt. He would have to think that over later.
But of course, this was only the plan of action they would follow if things turned out for the best for the young woman, regarding her life span. If she wasn't going to live long, then Shikaku was going to have to come up with something that would keep her presence in the village low key but would allow her to stay close to the boy before her passing. Hopefully he wouldn't have to come up with a plan like that and he could continue working on this one. From what he had gathered so far, there would be at least two people in this world that would mourn her death so far. Inoichi had told him about the young woman from what he had learned from her memories and from what Shikaku could tell as he listened to his blonde haired team mate and friend talk animatedly,was that Inoichi admired and respected her a great deal. Shikaku already knew how Naruto felt.
He hoped for all their sakes that she would live long,
But then again, that is not always fate's song.
Even though he didn't know her, the fact that Inoichi thought that she had what it took to become a very good ninja, piqued the Nara's interest. He closed his eyes as he remembered what his friend had said
Flashback
"She's not as civilian as you might think Shikaku. She's got some deadly steel in her and the mental fortitude needed for this profession."
"But there is the fact that in our profession we kill, Inoichi. If she can't do that, then there is no chance for her to succeed and she could possibly endanger herself and others if she can't."
"…Shikaku?"
"Yeah?"
"She's already killed someone."
Flashback ends
It had been pretty shocking for him to hear at first. As Inoichi told him about her getting attacked by a want-to-be-kidnapper who turned out to be a serial killer, Shikaku found his self growing more incredulous and grim as he listened about how she had snapped in her terror and how her instincts had taken over. He listened to his friend describe how swiftly she moved, about the blood as it flew from the man's neck as it was sliced open with deadly precision, with a spare box cutting knife that was left over from work. Her instincts seemed to be honed to kill the threat, when she was under extreme stress or fear, so it would probably be best for them to train her to control such snap/kill urges. Inoichi had told him how she had felt conflicted about killing for a time before she came to the conclusion that there was nothing that she could do and that she wouldn't regret her decisions but move on and learn from them: all this she came to believe without the help of a psychologist, Inoichi said. Mentally resilient. A good trait to have. It seemed she didn't want there to be any open record of information on her psyche that could be used against her later in the future. Paranoia and minimizing liability. No wonder Inoichi suggested that she should become a ninja, and these where only a few of the things that he had listed off the top of his head in their conversation.
But would she accept the profession? Inoichi seemed to think so as long as they showed her some 'cool' Ninjutsu and how to start using her chakra. He said that she would probably be thrilled with the prospect at first, and then rethink her decision to be a ninja after a few months of seeing what it was really like before deciding to stick with the profession. Shikaku had looked at him oddly.
Flashback
"That's all it will take? Some fancy ass Ninjutsu and she's jump on the ninja bandwagon like a little kid?" he had asked, a bit dubious. Inoichi had only chuckled.
"I can tell from her memories that it will be her weak spot. She has always been fascinated with the concept of magic, and is impressed with ingenious thinking. I have a feeling she would like ninja like you very much because of your trickery; more of the subtly over the brute strength. She admires skill, mastery, and ingenious talent in both body and mind and strives for that for herself, and has been striving for it long before she came here. Being a ninja would only be helping her along that path. She would probably give you a run for your money at Shoji, once she got the hang of it."
Flashback ends
He was a bit skeptical of his friend's predictions but only time would tell if she was really as predictable as Inoichi thought. The Jonin commander was pulled out of his thoughts when an Anbu began to shift the blankets around the young woman so that he could start to pick her up. There was a sudden flash of orange and yellow that brought back memories for Shikaku before Shikaku blinked in time to see the Anbu almost get bowled over by an over reactive Naruto. Looks like the slight movement had waked him up. The kid must still be very stressed if it was able to wake him from such a deep sleep.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the boy snapped as he tried to shoved the operative away from the woman who the operative had half gathered in his arms.
"Easy Naruto-san. I'm just moving her to better sleeping place," said Dog as Shikaku's eyebrows rose in shock. Oh my gosh. He knew who that was. The silver hair and the dog mask was a dead giveaway that Hatake Kakashi was back in uniform. But hadn't Kakashi been released from Anbu over two years ago?! Why was he back in Anbu?! After a moment Shikaku began to relax into his chair. He supposed it would make sense. Kakashi had been responsible for safeguarding Hiruzen, the third Hokage, many times over the years and the man was one of the few operatives that Hiruzen still trusted. Inoichi had told him in passing of the man's relapse of PTSS.
Hokage-sama must have gone to talk to him sooner than I had thought, Shikaku mused before sighing as he watched Naruto continue to mouth off at Kakashi.
"Well, couches are perfectly good sleeping places! Put her down!"
"I must insist Naruto-san," said Dog as he easily picked up the unconscious young woman.
"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Naruto yelled as Shikaku winced at the volume. Why does the kid have to be so loud all the time? Is he trying to draw attention to himself?
…Hmm.
Shikaku frowned at the thought. Now that he thought about it, the kid also wore kill-me-I'm-right-here-orange. Huh. Well, I guess he really does want to get attention, opposed to being ignored all the time, Shikaku mused with another sigh and wince as the boy started yelling at the Copy ninja in disguise once more. Even though the boy was angry, Shikaku could see the fear and stress that the boy was radiating because of the Anbu's actions, and apparently so had Kakashi. The silver haired man moved swiftly to make her comfortable on her futon mattress before moving back to let Naruto move forward to fix her blankets. The boy shot the copy ninja a heated glare as Dog stared back impassively. Shikaku only shook his head as he heaved a weary sigh. This was all waaaaay too troublesome, but he was going to have to figure something out. That much was certain.
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Samira blinked groggily as she began to awaken to find herself laying on her futon in Naruto's living room. Blinking blearily she groaned as she sat up, her body aching, her muscles tender and skin feeling sunburned. What the hell had happened to her? There was this slight hum in the air that seemed to be pressing in an all sides that hadn't been there before and there was the sensation that she could feel more than herself. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, since it seemed to chaotic for her to understand, but she could feel around her somehow. Beyond the pain, her body felt… different, her movements awkward and clumsy… As if, she was suddenly a lot lighter and bony, like her limbs where a bit longer. She shifted her head with a frown when the familiar brush of her hair didn't occur and raise a hand to find short strands under her finger tips. Where was her hair? Her locks where a few inches long and silky despite the thick nature of the strands, making her puzzlement continue to grow before she realized that her hand was paler in color as well. This… didn't feel like her hair… the texture was off.
What the hell?!
Now she wanted to see a mirror. After pushing her sheets away and with a bit of effort she managed to roll herself onto all fours. Grunting with effort she crawled into the bathroom before using the counter to help her to her feet where she lay panting for a moment before raising up enough to see herself in the mirror. She froze.
A sharper paler face than her own stared back, eyes slanted and light purple, with vibrant red hair that was about three of four inches long. She looked like she had lost a lot of weight and was deathly pale, making her mouth go dry in shock.
WHAT
THE
FUCK?!
What was this?! Why was her hair RED?! And SHORT?! And fucking STRAIGHT?! And her skin?! What the hell?! Those eyes where defiantly not hers! They were purple! Fucking Purple! She hesitantly raised a hand to wave clumsily at herself only to pale slightly in the mirror when the reflection did the same. She touched her hair and the reflection did the same, the thick silky stands moving under her fingers.
"…" she couldn't say anything.
She was officially freaking out.
"N-naruto," she rasped out as her dismay and panic began to grow. That… that couldn't be her! Her hair was brown and curly and LONG! What was this?! Who was that? Just what was going on?!
"Naruto!" she called in panic, her voice rising. There was the sound of running feet and Naruto burst into the bathroom, looking panicked before his gaze met Samira's her dazed wide eyes panicked. She… She had felt his approach before she had heard or seen him. She had felt something flare like the sun, bright and strong and warm before it had come running to her side. Just what was going on?!
"Samira-chan!" he cried as he skidded to a stop before her, eyes wide.
"Naruto, just what happened to me?" her voice trembled with fear and the boy immediately launched forward to wrap his arms around her. He was warm, the familiarity comforting her almost immediately despite the fact she was still shaking from shock and confusion.
"Oh thank goodness! You're ok Samira-chan! Don't worry! You're going to be just fine now!" the boy said as he hugged her. She shakily wrapped an arm around his shoulders, clinging to him like he was her only anchor on earth. He was here now… she was safe, and he was ok. That was good, she convinced herself as she forced herself to take slower breaths.
"W-what do you mean that I'll be fine now?" she asked as the boy pulled back slightly to get a good look at her face, his own grim with worry.
"You where dying before. Jiji explained everything to me; that since you are from another world, your body wasn't made for this one and that you where supposed to die. He then said something about how my blood and chakra saved you, which is why you look different now. Apparently my mom had red hair, purple eyes and pale skin like you do now." He said in a rush as Samira stared at him in shock. She had been dying?! WTF?! But now because of his blood and chakra she had survived? How did that even work? However it was the last bit he had mentioned that really managed to grab her attention. He had told his illusive 'Jiji' of his about her, and this Jiji or old man/grandfather as it means, had actually known what was going on...
"Your Jiji?! You told him? And he knew what was happening to me?" she demanded in astonishment. It was quite shocking if this was true. Naruto cringed slightly in shame.
"Hey! I panicked! What happened to you was scary, dettabayo! I thought that you where dying! You just wouldn't wake up! I trust Jiji and let him know about the bad ninja so he knows not to mention you to other people! Besides, Jiji is the Hokage of the village, the top ninja! He won't let anything bad happen to you, I give you my word dettabayo!" He was the leader of the village? Ok, it was official now. Her life had just gone to hell in a hand basket. At this Samira sighed in exasperation and resign. Of all the people the boy's Jiji or grandpa had to be, it was the leader of the damn village? And the strongest ninja? This would either be a boon or something that was going to get her killed.
The fact that the Hokage knew about what was happening to her and happened to be the leader of a ninja village wasn't good, for her at least. He was probably in charge of overseeing the progress of the experimentation that seemed to take place on people like her. He probably had a report up on his desk that had information on her and all the people that had come out of the lake. It felt like her gut was sinking with despair. She was pretty much boxed in now, with no hope of getting away now. She bet that there where ninja's watching them right now. Well fuck.
What if they had hurt him. She stiffened in shock as she looked at Naruto worriedly but relaxed slightly. He didn't appear to be hurt at all and she subtly check her for any wounds or bruises to find none.
"Did they hurt you?" she asked quietly, voice serious as she looked the boy in the eye. His own blue eyes widened in surprise before he shook his head vehemently.
"No, no, I'm fine Samira-chan! Never better, believe it," he said as he rushed to assure her. She let lose a sigh of relieve. She had thought that after them being found out, something bad would happen to him for helping her, but he seemed safe and well. Despite the fact that things looked bad so far, Naruto was alright, and because of this she could calm herself. She pulled him back into a hug as she frowned trying to remember what had happened to her…
What had happened? Slowly the memories started to come back, and all she could remember was pain, crushing ripping pain, all throughout her body. It felt like she had been dipped in a vat of acid then oil and set on fire. It felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside… she thought that she was going to die as she bit into her tongue, before passing out but she was alive. But for not long it seemed. She was boxed in for good, with no hope of getting away now. Ugh, she was so stupid. She just had to let her heart rule her head. She should have just asked the kid if he wanted to leave with her.
"I'm doomed," Samira groaned as she sank to the floor, Naruto sinking with her as he tried to cheer her up.
"Hey! Don't talk like that! Things are going to be just fine Samira-chan, you'll see! Jiji just said that we were going to have to come up with a cover for you and have someone check you out to see if you are ok in the head, 'ttebayo, though I told him you're fine. After that, he said that he will find a way to get you into the village officially, so that way you don't have to leave if you don't want, dattebayo. Make a cover for you." Samira shot Naruto a blank look.
"A cover?" she questioned dubiously. The blond nodded energetically.
"Yeah! That way, no one will know that you're hiding from the bad ninja Samira-chan! You look really different now, so all you need is a new background story and they'll never know! Jiji said that he was going to have this Head Jonin Commander or something come up with one after you woke up so they could ask you a few things and go over it with you." Said the blonde excitedly as he looked up her with earnest blue eyes. Samira could feel herself relaxing slightly as she shifted to a more comfortable position against the sink cabinet, letting her arm pull Naruto closer to her side, the boy complying easily, used to her affection by now.
"Hpmh. Well, we'll see kiddo. Hopefully these people have been truthful with you. I'm not worried about you trying to lie to me, but I wouldn't put it past them to tell you something false so you would tell me, in your usual earnest way. You would think it was the truth, knowing you," she said softly the last part a bit teasing as the boy's blue eyes grew worried.
"Do… you think that Jiji was telling me the truth Samira-chan?" he asked apprehensively. She sighed tiredly and pulled him a little closer.
"I sure hope so kiddo. That would be really nice, if I could stay here with you without having to worry about being found out." she said quietly as she let her chin rest in the nest of soft spiky blond hair. Either way, it's too late now, she thought. Whatever was going to happen would happen. Naruto shifted slightly to get comfortable as his arm around her waist tightened slightly.
"I'd really like that Samira-chan. I want you to stay."
"Me too," she murmured as her eyes slid shut, exhaustion winning out. Naruto sighed from where he rested in her arms. He had been so worried before, that now he knew Samira chan was ok, he felt his earlier exhaustion creeping up on him, as he began to relax. Despite the cold floor, Samira-chan was warm and a comforting presence and soon the boy drifted off into a deep sleep as well. The Dog masked Anbu that had been watching secretly from the corner of the bathroom under a genjutsu slid out of the shadows of the room carefully before disappearing off into the apartment. He returned a moment later with a clone and a couple of blankets to carefully pick up the sleeping boy and the young woman before moving them to the boy's room where the man carefully set the deeply asleep woman on the bed before setting the boy beside her, covering them both under the thick blankets to keep them warm. Naruto and the woman shifted to where they were once more comfortable with one another before falling still once more, both still asleep.
They looked so peaceful, Dog noted as he sighed and ran a hand through the back of his silver hair, feeling more mentally fatigued than normal. It wasn't every day he saw someone that had Kushina's coloration with Naruto, who had his teacher's coloration. It was almost like watching two siblings sleep and Kakashi couldn't help but think about the kind of life the boy should have had, how Minato-sensei should not have died. Guilt starting to rise up in his gut at failing in saving his teacher and he looked away sharply. He didn't want to be around the boy. He was afraid to fail again, but the Hokage had tasked him with watching over the two people that so closely resembled loved ones he had failed before. Forcing himself to turn, Dog watched the sleeping pair for a moment before sending his clone off to report to the Hokage. He should at least know that she was awake now.
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Haruki was still at the lab though it was very late, going over several of the tests he had performed on the blood. He frowned as he flipped through a few papers, looking through the readings, his still young face pinched in concentration. He put the papers down with a sigh, feeling a bit weary. It looked that to unravel the mystery of the blood he was going to have to keep working on this. Going through stack of scrolls that he had taken from the closet stash, he began rummaging through them where they sat on the table. He paused to lean back his eyes slightly tearing up at the wide yawn that split his face before he stretched, leaning further back in his seat. He sat forward all at once throwing himself slightly off balance and he cursed as he fumbled to regain his poise, knocking a few scrolls off the table while he was at it and another across the surface of the metal as he grimaced. This was the main reason he couldn't be a ninja and it irked him to no end his lack of coordination sometimes. One would think that it had gotten better over the years but he was still as clumsy as ever, though he managed to avoid being so when near labs. Perhaps the trick was practiced movement? Grumbling he got up and swiftly collected the scrolls on the floor before setting them on the desk and moving to pick up the other scroll. He signed when a timer went off and he aborted his task to instead fetch a container of blood flasks from the fridge. Any longer in there without the proper chemicals and the blood would be ruined. He collected the last scroll and sat back at his seat with his prizes in tow, another yawn threatening to break through before he set the items down and rubbed his hands together to fight off the chill the flask container had left on his hand.
"And now for some coffee. I could use the boost," he muttered as he stood...
not noticing the way the old scroll next to the blood was start to rattle.
To be continued…
AN: Dun Dun DUUUUUUUN! Major plot points! Mwahahaha! A tough chapter to pop out, but one of my favorite. All this complex thinking gets on my nerves but is rewarding to see. Please give me your thoughts and such. This has not been Beta-ed yet so please forgive the grammer mix ups and such.
I've already got part of the next chapter done but an just working on the transition needed from this chapter to the next.
